Montessori Baby: Month 3

The third month is when your baby gets more social and starts to engage with you. You’ll likely get your first intentional smile and even some cooing and gurgling sounds in response to things you say. Play time gets more fun as babies have better head and neck control, and stronger abdominal muscles. 

During play time, you can offer things that engage more senses than just sight, such as things to kick, shake or taste. There is a very fine line between interactive play and over stimulation though, so do look out for cues like turning away, closing eyes or yawning as a sign that your baby has had enough. 

Gobbi Mobile

The Gobbi Mobile is made up of four spheres in graduating shades of a single colour, hung at a 45 degree angle at increasing heights. This mobile is introduced at around seven to ten weeks, because by then babies are able to can see the full colour spectrum. The colour gradations in this mobile help to refine a baby’s chromatic sense by challenging her to differentiate between shades of the same colour.

This has been one of Dayna’s favourite visual mobiles. Not only is it attractive, but it also helps her developing vision.

Flowing Rhythm Mobile

This isn’t a traditional Montessori mobile, but is one that was designed by Christian Flensted. It is beautiful nonetheless and has been a favourite of both Ryaan and Dayna. The mobile is black on one side and red on the other. It is a graceful mobile that has a beautiful interplay of shape and colour in movement, with rich colours that complement each other. 

Dancers Mobile

The dancers mobile is an iconic Montessori mobile that features dynamic human forms with moving parts. The arms, legs and head of the figures bob separately with the wind, which provide a visual challenge for a baby to track with his eyes. As the parts move separately, the light hits them differently while the shapes and colours stay the same.

We introduced this mobile to Dayna towards the end of her third month, by which time she was getting much more active. This was alternated with the tactile Bell-on-Ribbon mobile which was introduced to her in Month 2.

For more information on visual mobiles, refer to my post Montessori Infant Mobiles.

Playsilk

We hung a playsilk onto Dayna’s tripod when we noticed that she was beginning to grasp her clothes. The playsilk is not only beautiful to look at but offers great grasping opportunities.

Grasping Rattle

As Dayna’s grip improves, we've introduced this simple knitted rattle. It is sized perfectly for her little hands, and is soft enough that even if she drops it on herself, she won't get hurt. Having a little jingle bell inside helps her to connect the sound with her motion, similar to the Bell-on-Ribbon mobile.

Crinkle paper

As Dayna gains more control of her limbs, she loves kicking her legs about. Placing baby crinkle paper, aluminium foil or crepe paper underneath her feet gives her a rich sensory experience. Everytime she moves her feet, the paper crinkles beneath her and also makes a rustling sound, which makes her want to kick more. Similar to the knitted rattle, this is a simple activity to connect her motion with sound.

Do read the other articles in my Montessori Baby series: Month 1 and Month 2. Stay tuned for more as Dayna grows.